Where is Hydra located? Freshwater hydra: structure, reproduction, nutrition

In favorable conditions, hydras can live for years, decades and centuries, without aging or losing fertility.

We meet hydras back in school: on the one hand, hydra was the name of the mythical monster that appears in one of the labors of Hercules, on the other hand, the same name is given to tiny coelenterates that live in freshwater bodies of water. Their body size is only 1-2 cm, outwardly they look like tubes with tentacles at one end; but despite small sizes and a sedentary lifestyle, they are still predators who, with the help of tentacles and the stinging cells in them, immobilize and grab prey - creatures even smaller than the hydras themselves.

Hydra Hydra vulgaris with budding clone. (Photo by Konrad Wothe/Minden Pictures/Corbis.)

Hydra company viridissima. (Photo by Albert Lleal/Minden Pictures/Corbis.)

However, they have one feature that is mentioned in any biology textbook. We're talking about extremely developed ability to regeneration: Hydra can restore any part of its body thanks to a huge supply of pluripotent stem cells. Such cells are capable of endlessly dividing and giving rise to all types of tissues, all varieties of other cells. But when a stem cell, during the process of differentiation, becomes muscle, or nervous, or something else, it stops dividing. And humans have such “omnipotent” stem cells only in the early stages embryonic development, and then their supply is quickly exhausted; instead of them, other, more specialized stem cells appear, which can also divide many times, but they already belong to some separate tissues. Hydra is luckier; with her, “almighty” stem cells remain for life.

But how long does a hydra live? If she is capable of constantly renewing herself, does it follow that she is immortal? It is known that even stem cells, which are present in adult humans and animals, gradually age and thereby contribute to the overall aging of the body. Could it be that hydra is unfamiliar with aging? James Whopal ( James W. Vaupel) from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and his colleagues argue that this is so. In an article in a magazine PNAS The authors of the work describe the results of a long-term experiment with 2,256 hydras “in the leading roles.” The animals grew up in the laboratory and in almost ideal conditions: everyone had their own area, no shortage of food and regular, three times a week, replacement of water in the aquarium.

Aging is most easily noticed by increasing mortality (that is, a young population will die less often than an old one) and a decrease in fertility. However, over eight years of observation, nothing like this happened. The mortality rate was constant throughout and was approximately one case per 167 individuals per year, regardless of age. (Among the inhabitants of the laboratory there were 41-year-old specimens, which, however, were clones, that is, biologically they were much older, but as a separate individual they were observed only in the last few years.) Fertility - in addition to asexual self-cloning, hydras also have sexual reproduction- also remained constant for 80%. For the remaining 20%, it either increased or decreased, which was probably due to changes in living conditions - after all, even in the laboratory some factors remain unaccounted for.

Of course, in natural conditions, with predators, diseases and other environmental troubles, hydras are unlikely to fully enjoy eternal youth and immortality. However, by themselves, they obviously do not really age and, as a result, do not die. It is possible that there are other organisms on Earth with the same amazing property, but if we continue to try to unravel the biological mystery of aging - and its absence - hydra still remains the most convenient object of study.

Two years ago, the same James Whopal and his colleagues published in Nature an article that talked about the connection between aging and life expectancy. It turned out that in many species mortality does not change at all with age, and in some the likelihood of dying young is even higher. Hydra was also present in that work: according to calculations, even after 1,400 years, 5% of hydras in a laboratory aquarium will remain alive (the rest will simply die evenly over such a more than impressive period). As you can see, in general, the results with these coelenterates turned out to be so interesting that they have now made another separate article about them.

There are many different species of animals that have survived from ancient times to the present day. Among them there are primitive organisms that have continued to exist and reproduce for more than six hundred million years - hydras.

Description and lifestyle

A common inhabitant of water bodies, the freshwater polyp called hydra belongs to the coelenterates. It is a gelatinous translucent tube up to 1 cm long. At one end, on which a peculiar sole is located, it is attached to aquatic plants. On the other side of the body there is a corolla with many (6 to 12) tentacles. They are capable of stretching up to several centimeters in length and are used to search for prey, which the hydra paralyzes with a stinging injection, pulls with tentacles to the oral cavity and swallows.

The basis of nutrition is daphnia, fish fry, and cyclops. Depending on the color of the food eaten, the color of the hydra’s translucent body also changes.

Thanks to the contraction and relaxation of integumentary muscle cells, this organism can narrow and thicken, stretch to the sides and move slowly. Simply put, the most similar thing to a moving and independent stomach is the freshwater hydra. Its reproduction, despite this, occurs at a fairly high rate and in different ways.

Types of hydras

Zoologists distinguish four genera of these freshwater polyps. They are quite a bit different from each other. Large species with thread-like tentacles several times the length of the body are called Pelmatohydra oligactis (long-stemmed hydra). Another species, with a body tapering towards the sole, is called Hydra vulgaris or brown (common). Hydra attennata (thin or gray) looks like a tube smooth along its entire length with slightly longer tentacles compared to the body. The green hydra, called Chlorohydra viridissima, is so named due to its grassy coloration, which is given to it by the oxygen supply to this organism.

Features of reproduction

This simple creature can reproduce both sexually and asexually. IN summer period When the water warms up, hydra reproduces mainly by budding. Sex cells are formed in the ectoderm of the hydra only in the fall, with the onset of cold weather. By winter, adults die, leaving eggs, from which a new generation emerges in the spring.

Asexual reproduction

Under favorable conditions, hydra usually reproduces by budding. Initially, there is a small protrusion on the body wall, which slowly turns into a small tubercle (kidney). It gradually increases in size, stretches out, and tentacles form on it, between which you can see the mouth opening. First, the young hydra connects to the mother’s body with the help of a thin stalk.

After some time, this young shoot separates and begins independent life. This process is very similar to how plants develop a shoot from a bud, which is why the asexual reproduction of hydra is called budding.

Sexual reproduction

When cold weather sets in or conditions become not entirely favorable for the life of the hydra (drying out of the reservoir or prolonged starvation), the formation of germ cells occurs in the ectoderm. Eggs form in the outer layer of the lower body, and sperm develop in special tubercles (male gonads), which are located closer to the oral cavity. Each of them has a long flagellum. With its help, the sperm can move through the water to reach the egg and fertilize it. Since hydra occurs in the fall, the resulting embryo is covered with a protective shell and lies on the bottom of the reservoir for the entire winter, and only with the onset of spring begins to develop.

Sex cells

These freshwater polyps are in most cases dioecious (sperm and eggs are formed on different individuals); hermaphroditism in hydras is extremely rare. With colder weather, the formation of sex glands (gonads) occurs in the ectoderm. Sex cells are formed in the body of the hydra from intermediate cells and are divided into female (eggs) and male (sperm). The egg resembles an amoeba in appearance and has pseudopods. It grows very quickly, while absorbing intermediate cells located in the neighborhood. By the time of ripening, its diameter ranges from 0.5 to 1 mm. Reproduction of hydra using eggs is called sexual reproduction.

Sperm are similar to flagellated protozoa. Breaking away from the hydra's body and swimming in the water using the existing flagellum, they go in search of other individuals.

Fertilization

When a sperm swims up to an individual with an egg and penetrates inside, the nuclei of both cells merge. After this process, the cell acquires a more rounded shape due to the fact that the pseudopods are retracted. On its surface a thick shell is formed with outgrowths in the form of spikes. Before the onset of winter, the hydra dies. The egg remains alive and falls into suspended animation, remaining at the bottom of the reservoir until spring. When the weather becomes warm, the overwintered cell under the protective shell continues its development and begins to divide, first forming the rudiments of the intestinal cavity, then tentacles. Then the shell of the egg breaks and a young hydra is born.

Regeneration

Features of hydra reproduction also include an amazing ability to recover, as a result of which a new individual is regenerated. From a single piece of the body, sometimes constituting less than one hundredth of the total volume, a whole organism can be formed.

As soon as the hydra is cut into pieces, the regeneration process immediately starts, in which each piece acquires its own mouth, tentacles and sole. Back in the seventeenth century, scientists conducted experiments when, by merging different halves of hydras, even seven-headed organisms were obtained. It was from then that this freshwater polyp got its name. This ability can be regarded as another way of hydra reproduction.

Why is hydra dangerous in an aquarium?

For fish larger than four centimeters in size, hydras are not dangerous. Rather, they serve as a kind of indicator of how properly the owner feeds the fish. If too much food is given, it breaks up into tiny pieces in the water, then you can see how quickly hydras begin to multiply in the aquarium. To deprive them of this food resource, it is necessary to reduce the amount of food.

In an aquarium where very tiny fish or fry live, the appearance and reproduction of hydra is quite dangerous. This can lead to various troubles. The fry will disappear first, and the remaining fish will constantly experience chemical burns caused by the hydra's tentacles. This organism can enter the aquarium with live food, with plants brought from a natural reservoir, etc.

To combat hydra, you should choose methods that will not harm the fish living in the aquarium. The easiest way is to take advantage of the hydras' love for bright light. Although it remains a mystery how she perceives it in the absence of visual organs. It is necessary to shade all the walls of the aquarium, except for one, against which they lean against inside glass of the same size. During the day, hydras move closer to the light and are placed on the surface of this glass. After which all that remains is to carefully take it out - and the fish are no longer in danger.

Due to their high ability to reproduce in an aquarium, hydras are able to reproduce very quickly. This should be taken into account and carefully monitor their appearance in order to avoid troubles in time.

Hydras are a genus of animals belonging to the Coelenterates. Their structure and life activity are often considered using the example of a typical representative - freshwater hydra. Next we will describe exactly this type, which lives in fresh water bodies with clean water, attaches to aquatic plants.

Typically, the size of a hydra is less than 1 cm. The life form is a polyp, which suggests a cylindrical body shape with a sole at the bottom and a mouth opening on the upper side. The mouth is surrounded by tentacles (about 6-10), which can extend to a length exceeding the length of the body. The hydra bends from side to side in the water and with its tentacles catches small arthropods (daphnia, etc.), after which it sends them into its mouth.

Hydras, as well as all coelenterates, are characterized by radial (or ray) symmetry. If you look at it not from above, you can draw many imaginary planes dividing the animal into two equal parts. The hydra does not care from which side the food swims towards it, since it leads a stationary lifestyle, so radial symmetry is more advantageous to it than bilateral symmetry (characteristic of most mobile animals).

The hydra's mouth opens into intestinal cavity. Partial digestion of food occurs here. The rest of the digestion is carried out in the cells, which absorb partially digested food from the intestinal cavity. Undigested remains are expelled through the mouth, since coelenterates do not have an anus.

The body of hydra, like all coelenterates, consists of two layers of cells. The outer layer is called ectoderm, and internal - endoderm. Between them there is a small layer mesoglea- a noncellular gelatinous substance that may contain various types of cells or cell processes.

Hydra ectoderm

Hydra ectoderm consists of several types of cells.

Skin-muscle cells the most numerous. They create the integument of the animal, and are also responsible for changing the shape of the body (lengthening or decreasing, bending). Their processes contain muscle fibers that can contract (their length decreases) and relax (their length increases). Thus, these cells play the role of not only the integument, but also the muscles. Hydra does not have real muscle cells and therefore no real muscle tissue.

The hydra can move using somersaults. She bends down so much that her tentacles reach the support and stands on them, lifting her sole up. After this, the sole tilts and rests on the support. Thus, the hydra makes a somersault and ends up in a new place.

Hydra has nerve cells. These cells have a body and long processes with which they connect to each other. Other processes are in contact with skin-muscle and some other cells. Thus, the whole body is enclosed in a nervous network. Hydras do not have a cluster of nerve cells (ganglia, brain), but even such a primitive nervous system allows them to have unconditioned reflexes. Hydras react to touch, the presence of a row chemical substances, temperature change. So if you touch a hydra, it shrinks. This means that excitation from one nerve cell spreads to all the others, after which the nerve cells transmit a signal to the skin-muscle cells so that they begin to contract their muscle fibers.

Between the skin-muscle cells, the hydra has a lot stinging cells. There are especially many of them on the tentacles. These cells inside contain stinging capsules with stinging filaments. Outside the cells there is a sensitive hair, when touched, the stinging thread shoots out of its capsule and strikes the victim. In this case, a poison is injected into a small animal, usually having a paralytic effect. With the help of stinging cells, hydra not only catches its prey, but also defends itself from animals attacking it.

Intermediate cells(located in the mesoglea rather than in the ectoderm) provide regeneration. If the hydra is damaged, then thanks to the intermediate cells at the site of the wound, new ones are formed. various cells ectoderm and endoderm. Hydra can restore enough most of your body. Hence its name: in honor of the character of ancient Greek mythology, who grew new heads to replace the severed ones.

Hydra endoderm

Endoderm lines the intestinal cavity of the hydra. The main function of endoderm cells is to capture food particles (partially digested in the intestinal cavity) and their final digestion. At the same time, endoderm cells also have muscle fibers that can contract. These fibers face the mesoglea. Flagella are directed towards the intestinal cavity, which rake food particles towards the cell. The cell captures them the way amoebas do - forming pseudopods. Next, the food ends up in the digestive vacuoles.

The endoderm secretes a secretion into the intestinal cavity - digestive juice. Thanks to it, the animal captured by the hydra disintegrates into small particles.

Hydra reproduction

Freshwater hydra has both sexual and asexual reproduction.

Asexual reproduction carried out by budding. It occurs during a favorable period of the year (mainly in summer). A protrusion of the wall forms on the body of the hydra. This protrusion increases in size, after which tentacles form on it and a mouth breaks through. Subsequently, the daughter individual separates. Thus, freshwater hydras do not form colonies.

With the onset of cold weather (autumn), the hydra begins to sexual reproduction. After sexual reproduction, hydras die; they cannot live in winter. During sexual reproduction, eggs and sperm are formed in the body of the hydra. The latter leave the body of one hydra, swim up to another and fertilize its eggs there. Zygotes are formed, which are covered with a dense shell, allowing them to survive the winter. In the spring, the zygote begins to divide, and two germ layers are formed - ectoderm and endoderm. When the temperature gets high enough, the young hydra breaks the shell and comes out.

The common hydra lives in freshwater bodies of water, attaches itself on one side of its body to aquatic plants and underwater objects, leads a sedentary lifestyle, and feeds on small arthropods (daphnia, cyclops, etc.). Hydra is a typical representative of coelenterates and has characteristic features their structures.

External structure of the hydra

The hydra's body size is about 1 cm, excluding the length of the tentacles. The body has a cylindrical shape. On one side there is mouth opening surrounded by tentacles. On the other side - sole, they attach the animal to objects.

The number of tentacles can vary (from 4 to 12).

Hydra has a single life form polyp(i.e., it does not form colonies, since during asexual reproduction the daughter individuals are completely separated from the mother; hydra also does not form jellyfish). Asexual reproduction occurs budding. At the same time, a new small hydra grows in the lower half of the hydra’s body.

Hydra is capable of changing its body shape within certain limits. It can bend, bend, shorten and lengthen, and extend its tentacles.

Internal structure of the hydra

Like all coelenterates internal structure The body of the hydra is a two-layer sac, forming a closed (there is only a mouth opening) intestinal cavity. The outer layer of cells is called ectoderm, internal - endoderm. Between them there is a gelatinous substance mesoglea, mainly performing a supporting function. The ectoderm and endoderm contain several types of cells.

Mostly in the ectoderm epithelial muscle cells. At the base of these cells (closer to the mesoglea) there are muscle fibers, the contraction and relaxation of which ensures the movement of the hydra.

Hydra has several varieties stinging cells. Most of them are on the tentacles, where they are located in groups (batteries). The stinging cell contains a capsule with a coiled thread. On the surface of the cell, a sensitive hair “looks” out. When the hydra's victims swim by and touch the hairs, a stinging thread shoots out of the cage. In some stinging cells, the threads pierce the arthropod's cover, in others they inject poison inside, in others they stick to the victim.

Among the ectoderm cells, Hydra has nerve cells. Each cell has many processes. Connecting with their help, nerve cells form the hydra nervous system. Such a nervous system is called diffuse. Signals from one cell are transmitted across the network to others. Some processes of nerve cells contact epithelial muscle cells and cause them to contract when necessary.

Hydras have intermediate cells. They give rise to other types of cells, except epithelial-muscular and digestive-muscular. All these cells provide the hydra with a high ability to regenerate, that is, restore lost parts of the body.

In the body of the hydra in the fall they are formed germ cells. Either sperm or eggs develop in the tubercles on her body.

The endoderm consists of digestive muscle and glandular cells.

U digestive muscle cell on the side facing the mesoglea there is a muscle fiber, like epithelial muscle cells. On the other side, facing the intestinal cavity, the cell has flagella (like euglena) and forms pseudopods (like amoeba). The digestive cell scoops up food particles with flagella and captures them with pseudopods. After this, a digestive vacuole is formed inside the cell. Obtained after digestion nutrients are used not only by the cell itself, but are also transported to other types of cells through special tubules.

Glandular cells secrete a digestive secretion into the intestinal cavity, which ensures the breakdown of prey and its partial digestion. In coelenterates, cavity and intracellular digestion are combined.

In terms of its structure, the hydra is a very simply structured freshwater animal, which does not at all prevent it from demonstrating a high reproduction rate when placed in an aquarium. Hydras can harm small aquarium fish and fry.

Read straight away about how to deal with hydra in an aquarium >>>

Actually, a hydra is just a “stray stomach” equipped with tentacles, but this stomach can do a lot of things, even reproduce in two ways: asexually and sexually. Hydra is truly a monster. Long tentacles armed with special stinging capsules. A mouth that stretches so that it can swallow prey much larger than the hydra itself in size. Hydra is insatiable. She eats constantly. Eats countless amounts of prey, the weight of which exceeds its own. Hydra is omnivorous. Both daphnia and cyclops and beef are suitable for her food.

Photo 1. Hydra under a microscope. The tentacles appear knotty due to numerous stinging capsules. Hydra has as many as three capsules various types and in their structure are very similar to polar capsules , which indicates some relationship between these organisms, which are completely different from each other.

Drawing from V.A. Dogel ZOOLOGY OF INVERTEBRATES

In the fight for food, the hydra is ruthless. If two hydras suddenly grab the same prey, then neither will yield. Hydra never releases anything caught in its tentacles. The larger monster will begin to drag its competitor towards itself along with the victim. First, it will swallow the prey itself, and then the smaller hydra. Both the prey and the less fortunate second predator will fall into the super-capacious womb (it can stretch several times!). But the hydra is inedible! A little time will pass and the larger monster will simply spit out its smaller brother. Moreover, everything that the latter managed to eat himself will be completely taken away by the winner. The loser will see the light of God again, having been squeezed to the very last drop of anything edible. But very little time will pass and the pathetic lump of mucus will again spread its tentacles and again become a dangerous predator.

In essence, a freshwater polyp called a hydra is simply a wandering stomach armed with an apparatus for capturing food. It is an oblong bag, which is attached with the bottom (sole) to some underwater object. On the opposite side there are tentacles surrounding the mouth opening. This is the only visible hole in the hydra’s body: through it it swallows food and throws out undigested remains. The mouth leads into the internal cavity, which is the “organ” of digestion. Animals of this structure were previously classified as coelenterates. The currently valid name for this type is Cnidarians (Cnidaria)- These are very ancient and primitive organisms in their organization. If you cut the hydra crosswise into two parts, the hydra's womb will literally become bottomless. The mouth with tentacles will tirelessly continue to catch prey and swallow it. There will be no saturation, because everything that is swallowed will simply fall out on the other side. But the polyp will not die. In the end, from each part of a hydra cut in two, a completely full-fledged monster will grow. What is there in two, the hydra can be divided into a hundred parts, from each a new creature will grow. The hydras were dissected lengthwise with multiple cuts. The result was a bunch of hydras sitting on one sole.

Now you should understand what problems Hercules had to face in the fight against the Lernaean Hydra. No matter how much he chopped off her heads, new ones grew in their place each time. As always, there is some truth in any myth. But the hydra is not mythical, but quite real creature. This is a common inhabitant of our reservoirs. It can get into the aquarium along with live food, hand-frozen natural food (frozen bloodworms) and recklessly brought home aquatic plants from nature. And if suddenly this unique animal appears in your aquarium, then what should you do?

Photo 3. Hydras can reproduce sexually and asexually. The latter represents budding. This process of budding is precisely shown here: you can see how a small one (daughter organism) is formed on a large hydra (mother organism).

Firstly, you don’t have to do anything. For fish larger than 4 centimeters, hydra is not dangerous. It was only the mythical one that was big, and those from real life- small (the largest grow up to two centimeters, if you count their length together with straightened tentacles). In an aquarium, hydras feed on leftover food and can serve good indicator, does the owner feed his fish correctly or not? If an excessive amount of food is given or it breaks up in the water into very small and numerous pieces that the fish no longer collect, then the hydras will breed extremely large. They will sit in close rows on all illuminated surfaces. They have such a weakness - they love light. Having seen the abundance of hydras, the owner of the aquarium must come to certain conclusions: either change the brand of food, or feed less, or get nurse fish. The main thing here is to deprive the hydras of an abundant food resource, then they will gradually disappear on their own.

In an aquarium where small fish live, and even more so where very tiny fry grow up, there is no place for hydras. In such a home pond they can cause a lot of trouble. If you don’t fight them, soon there will be no fry left at all, and small fish will suffer from chemical burns that the hydras will inflict on them with their stinging cells located in the tentacles. Inside each such stinging cell lies a large oval capsule with a sensitive hair sticking out, and in the capsule itself there is a thread twisted into a spiral, which is a thin tube through which paralyzing poison is supplied to the body of the caught victim. If any aquatic organism If, for example, a daphnia or even a small fish accidentally touches a tentacle, then entire batteries of stinging cells will come into action. The stinging threads ejected from the capsules paralyze and immobilize the victim. Like many microscopic harpoons (penetranta cells), sticky Velcro (glutinanta cells) and entangling threads (volventa cells) they will securely attach it to the tentacles. Smoothly curving, the tentacles will pull the helpless prey to the “dimensionless” throat. That is why such a primitively constructed creature, a simple lump of mucus, just a bag for digesting food with tentacles, is such a formidable predator.

The choice of means to combat hydra depends on the aquarium in which it has settled. If in a nursery, then neither chemical nor biological means of control can be used - there is a risk of ruining the still tender little ones. But you can use the hydra's love for light. The entire aquarium is shaded, and only one of the side windows is left illuminated. Another glass is leaned against this glass from the inside of the aquarium, such a size that it fits into the aquarium and covers most of the surface of the side wall. By the end of the day, all the hydras will move to the light and sit on this glass. All you have to do is carefully remove it and that’s it! Your fry are saved! How will the hydras end up on the illuminated wall? They don't have legs, but they can "walk". To do this, the hydra bends in the desired direction more and more until its tentacles touch the substrate on which it sits. Then, literally, she stands on her “head” (on tentacles, that is, she has no head at all in our understanding!) and the opposite end of her body, which is now on top (the one where her sole is located), begins bend towards the light. This is how the hydra, tumbling, moves towards the illuminated place. But this creature moves in this way only if it is in a hurry to get somewhere. Usually it just glides very slowly over the mucus secreted by the cells of the sole. But how and with what means the hydra perceives light in order to know where to move is an unanswered question, because it does not have a specialized organ of vision.

When the hydra is in a hurry, it moves using somersaults.

How else can you defeat the hydra? Chemical weapons! She really doesn’t like the presence of salts in water heavy metals, especially copper. So the usual copper-containing fish treatment products from the pet store will help here. For example, you can use Sera oodinopur.In addition, drugs to combat snails, which also usually contain copper, should also be effective -Sera snailpur. Therefore, if hydras have settled in your aquarium, then this is not only bad, but also good news: The water you use is free from heavy metal salts.
In the absence of the above and similar purchased products, you can use a homemade solution of copper sulfate in the fight against hydra. The technique described in the article about is suitable.

Photo 4. Hydras thrive on snags. Red parrots live in this aquarium. They are reluctant to pick up small particles of food from the bottom. That is why a lot of silt has accumulated on the snag, in which life boils, and hydras find abundant food.

There is also biological weapons to fight hydra. If you have an aquarium with different peaceful fish medium size, then get a couple more. These fish got their name because special structure their highly developed lips, which are perfectly suited for cleaning glass and stones in the aquarium from all kinds of fouling and remnants of uneaten food. The movements of the lips of these funny fish are very reminiscent of a kiss, especially when they, in conflict with each other, push with their wide open mouths, hence their name. These fish will quickly “kiss” all the hydras in the aquarium - clean!
Kissing gouramis eventually grow to a noticeable size - up to fifteen centimeters, therefore, if your aquarium is small, then to fight the hydra you should use other labyrinth fish: bettas, macropods, marble gouramis. They don't grow that big.

Photo 5. Following the red parrots, the hydras were placed in an aquarium marble gourami. In just one day they “licked” the snag clean! There was no trace left of the hydras, and the deposits of silt from the snags had disappeared.

As you can see, unlike the mythical hydra, freshwater hydra can be easily gotten rid of. You won't need to perform the second labor of Hercules for this. But before you destroy the hydras, watch them. After all, these are truly interesting creatures. Their ability to change the shape of their body, to stretch and contract unimaginably, is worth something.

In the mid-18th century, when entertainment with a microscope became fashionable in select society, the naturalist Abraham Tremblay's Memoirs on the History of a Kind of Freshwater Polyps with Arms in the Shape of Horns, published by the naturalist Abraham Tremblay, became a real bestseller.
Hydras are a very fragment that has survived to this day. ancient life. Despite all their amazing primitiveness, these creatures have been living in this world for at least six hundred million years!

In our reservoirs you can find several species of hydra, which zoologists currently classify as three different genera. Long-stemmed hydra (Pelmatohydra oligactis)- large, with a bunch of very long thread-like tentacles, 2-5 times the length of its body. Common or brown hydra (Hydra vulgaris)- the tentacles are approximately twice as long as the body, and the body itself, as in the previous species, narrows closer to the sole. Thin or gray hydra (Hydra attennata)- on a “skinny stomach” the body of this hydra looks like a thin tube of uniform thickness, and the tentacles are only slightly longer than the body. Green hydra (Chlorohydra viridissima) with short but numerous tentacles, grassy green in color. This green color occurs due to the presence in the body of the hydra of green unicellular algae - zoochlorella, which supply the hydra with oxygen, and they themselves find a very comfortable environment in the body of the hydra, rich in nitrogen and phosphorus salts.
Read additional materials about hydra and see photos of hydra on aquarium glass at.

When writing this article, materials from the following books were used:
1. A.A. Yakhontov. "Zoology for the teacher", vol. 1, Moscow, "Enlightenment", 1968
2. Ya.I. Starobogatov. "Crayfish, mollusks", Lenizdat, 1988
3. N.F. Zolotnitsky. "Amateur's Aquarium", Moscow, "TERRA", 1993
4. V.A. Dogel "Zoology of invertebrates", Moscow, "Soviet Science", 1959.

Vladimir Kovalev

Updated 04/21/2016

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